


the seaweed is always greener

by ElasticElla



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, F/F, Femslash February, Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 13:25:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6117810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElasticElla/pseuds/ElasticElla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Do you want me to come with you? Tomorrow at least, I can drive-” </p>
<p>“To the ocean for some typical mother-daughter bonding, while I <i>grow gills</i>? No Mom, I <i>don't</i>,” Clary snaps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the seaweed is always greener

**Author's Note:**

> for this month's [meet cute challenge](http://femslashbb.livejournal.com/11281.html)
> 
> you bet i was listening to under the sea on repeat & blame [this mermaid!clary pic](http://parkwest.tumblr.com/post/140089789242/thedailynephilim-kat-for-project-mermaids)
> 
> um, this gets a bit dark if you're thinking about it from camille's pov so idk, if you're doing that, here's an implied manipulation cw?

Clary has been dreading her eighteenth birthday for the past year. Okay, that's not entirely true, and is a little over dramatic. She's been alternating between trying very hard not to think about it and pretending that her mother is a liar. So really, it's a year like any other, though her relationship with her mother is more strained, and she sleeps over at Simon's or Maureen's more often to avoid awkward dinners. She hasn't found a way to tell them yet- _oh hey, apparently on my eighteenth birthday my repressed mermaid side emerges_?- and it's looking more like she'll just show them if it really happens. 

Naturally, she's hoping it doesn't. Maybe if she were younger she'd want to be a mermaid, but Clary just wants her normal life and to go to art school next year. She wants to watch Maureen and Simon's band go through a dozen genre changes and even more name changes. She wants simple things- her fake id getting rejected at the local club, more dinners with her mom and Luke without a word about mermaids, and to finally finish her graphic novel. 

It's the night before her eighteenth birthday when Clary can't spend another dinner listening to her mother's wild stories without asking anything. And while she hadn't responded much before, she had _listened_ , in any case. 

“If all of this is true, how do you live on land?” 

Her mother sighs, “I was running away from your father-”

“ _What_.” 

“-I knew he would never move onto land. I traded my tail to a warlock to keep us hidden, and to keep you from growing up as a mermaid.” 

“Warlocks are real?” Clary flatly asks, the first mention of a supernatural species besides mermaids. 

“Yes, they're the only ones that can live with the mundanes- humans- independently. Most choose not to and live in the sea.” 

“Okay,” Clary says, waving that aside, “but Dad's dead. So you can live in the sea again. If I'm living there for a year-”

“Clary,” her mother gently interrupts. “my tail is gone forever. I couldn't survive.” 

“Of course. That would ruin the whole coming of age independent adventure,” she says bitterly. 

“Do you want me to come with you? Tomorrow at least, I can drive-” 

“To the ocean for some typical mother-daughter bonding, while I _grow gills_? No Mom, I _don't_ ,” Clary snaps, and she leaves the table before the guilt can set in. 

.

Clary thought swimming with a tail would be easier, but she keeps trying to use her tail like legs and it's amazing she's gotten this far without drowning...not that she can drown anymore apparently. She's tempted to test the new gills that line her neck, but she wants to get a handle on the swimming thing first. 

Clary half-swims half-floats south, it's a little easier that way, there's less resistance and the current carries her. There's a perfect rock nearby, very the little mermaid feeling, and Clary awkwardly climbs up, breathing hard. 

She pokes at the ruby scales that start her tail, and it's still hard to believe this isn't all some elaborate dream. Simon is going to _flip out_ when she shows him. (Maureen will probably just have a dozen ready to go theories on mermaid lore.)

“You're on my rock Ariel,” a smooth voice says, and Clary whips her upper body around to see another mermaid. She's devastatingly gorgeous, and Clary can just see the beginnings of a golden and black scaled tail. 

“My mother said no one lived in this part of the ocean.” 

She cocks her head to the side, a curious look on her face, “That hasn't been true for quite some time.” She swims closer, and Clary's fingers tingle as she sharply wishes she could draw her right now. She's beyond stunning, she's entrancing, feels like pure magic. 

“What are you doing so far from the Cove little one?” 

Clary crosses her arms and brings her tail in closer, “My name is Clary and I don't know what cove you're talking about. I just became a mermaid today and ugh, I can't even swim well. How do you do it?” 

“You think we're the same,” she muses. “That's so sweet.” 

“Huh?” 

She hops up on the rock beside Clary in a graceful motion, holding a hand out. “I'm Camille. I'm a siren but if you promise not to hunt me, I'll teach you how to swim.” 

Clary isn't sure how serious she is about the request, it's delivered in a teasing tone, but she shakes all the same. “Do mermaids usually do that?” 

Camille grins, a flash of small pointy teeth, “They once did. Mermaids aren't allowed in these waters anymore, but I suppose you're not really one of them, so you aren't bound by their accords.” 

“That's awful,” Clary says, tugging a hand through her hair. “Why?” 

Camille shrugs, “War is a horrible thing. I can give you a history lesson after the swimming one if you'd like.” 

Clary blushes, “That would be really helpful.” 

Camille's tail nudges Clary's, and Clary isn't sure what type of touch that even is, but it sends a curl of warmth through her. “Are your parents…?” 

“One dead, the other,” Clary frowns, “she hid this from me for seventeen years and- she told me last year- I know I should have forgiven her by now. But it just makes me so _mad_ whenever I think about it, like there was no reason for her not to tell me sooner.” 

“Mhmm,” Camille slips back into the water, “well I have just the thing to distract you, c'mon in.” 

Clary pushes off the rock, a little too hard in her haste, and ends up flailing in the water while she desperately tries to stay above water. 

Camille chuckles softly, and two hands steady her waist. “Easy there. For floating, you want to do small rocking movements with your tail.” 

“Okay, I can barely control my tail, let alone-”

Clary falls silent when Camille's hands dip lower, firmly on her hips. “Like this,” she says, softly maneuvering her tail back and forth, and Clary's face is burning. She can't feel, can't focus on anything other than Camille's touch. 

“Got it?” Camille asks, removing her hands. 

“No!” Clary yelps out, and Camille's hands drift back easily, a smirk on her face. 

“Something distracting you Clary?”

She doesn't directly answer besides a deepening blush. “I'll get it this time.”

And Clary does, unknowingly stops thinking of her tail as her legs. 

“Good,” Camille praises, “are you ready to add movement?” 

Clary glances at the rock one last time before turning to Camille with a smile, “Let's do it.”


End file.
